This glorious volume is a lavishly illustrated coffee-table book with dozens of inspirational and famous color paintings, sculptures and artwork of the Blessed Virgin Mary from all over the world. The beautiful pictures are accompanied by the profound writings and homilies of Pope Benedict XVI on the person of Mary, and her unique role in human history and in the plan of God for salvation history.

The gorgeous paintings and artwork are from many different centuries, some very famous and others less well-known. Many of these artworks are located at popular Marian shrines that Pope Benedict has visited and honored with special events, prayers and homilies, depicted throughout this volume. Some of the famous Marian images include Our Lady of Lourdes, Our Lady of Czestochowa (the "Black Madonna"), Queen of the Holy Rosary, Our Lady of Loreto, Queen of Carmel, and many others.

Pope Benedict offers in-depth, inspirational reflections on the unique spiritual role Mary has as the Mother of the Savior, showing her to be the universal "woman" that Jesus calls her in the Gospels, his mother that God made the spiritual mother of all mankind. Using Biblical references of Mary as "full of grace" and the "woman clothed with the sun," Pope Benedict emphasizes that Mary's main role is to lead us to union with Jesus, to help us know and love him much better and to be his true followers.

A lovely gift book as well as one to use for inspiring spiritual reading, meditation and reflection.